Today is the birthday of one of my favorite actors, and probably my favorite caricature subject. I try to capture how he can look both scary and funny at the same time. Walken became well-known, early in his career for playing bad guys or mentally unhinged types. But he has done a lot more light-hearted and comedic roles in recent years. Some of my favorite Saturday Night Live moments are from his sketches: The Continental, Colonel Angus, and Shinshi-Shinshi to name a few.

Thank you, Mr. Walken, for the years of entertainment! Also, I painted this for an upcoming art show. More on that in a couple weeks...

It's that time of year again where critics and publications are making their predictions for the Academy Awards. So the San Diego Union-Tribune once again asked me to do an Oscar-themed illustration for the cover of the Night and Day Weekend section. The composition was left up entirely to me. But unlike last year's illustration, which only showed the critic's choice for the best actor and actress, I wanted to include all of the major contenders for the Best Picture Oscar itself. And with the limited time I had to work on it, I needed a way to represent the films as a whole, in a simple way, and not make it look like I was focusing on just the actors.

In order to avoid having to draw and paint full bodies or complicated backgrounds, I came up with the picture frame idea, with Oscar himself playing the role of the critical viewer in a gallery or museum who is contemplating his choices. And each gold frame has elements which reference each nominated film in some small way. I kept the frame for "The Help" simple because it seemed appropriate that a movie about domestic workers have a less fancy frame. Still though, this illustration ended up being quite an exercise in rendering shiny gold surfaces.

And I'm so happy I finally got a chance to caricature Owen Wilson. What a weird schnoz!

It's not too often that I get to do a commissioned job that is edgy and macabre. Most people want something very flattering and inoffensive. Especially when it's a Christmas card. But the Nykoluk family is an exception, in many ways. They requested something along the lines of an Addams Family ink drawing for the cover of their Christmas card this year. I was already somewhat acquainted with them going into this, so I knew I could have a little more fun with it. The parents are both artists themselves. One's a graphic designer and the other designs tactical equipment and apparel. And they are very creative in their daily lives--from their original and intricate Halloween costumes to creating tiny themed lunch sculptures for their kids.

And I got a chance to really explore some ink hatching techniques. It's such a difficult and delicate medium that forces you to plan out every single stroke. The angle, length and thickness of the line, as well as its proximity to every other line are what create the illusion of value and form. But when it's done right, it's a very satisfying type of art to look at. The lines also help create a sense of motion that other types of rendering might not have.

I apologize for the lack of posts this summer. I promise to be better about posting new stuff!

This is a small oil painting I just finished for this week's Caricaturama Showdown competition on Facebook. The subject was Christopher Walken. He has always been one of my favorite faces to draw. And whenever I attempt another Walken caricature, I try a different spin to try to find the definitive likeness. I don't think I"m quite there yet. But this was a very fun one to paint because I was pretending I was Velasquez or Rembrandt in the overall look and atmosphere. So I changed the background and clothing from the original photo to create a more timeless portrait.

His face torments and haunts me in my dreams. So he is Walken, the tormentor.